Conventional Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) technology can be used to transmit audio and/or video streams to a client's decoder. As a simple example, a network environment can include a server, a communication link, and a client. The client can include a decoder. During operation, and as its name suggests, the decoder receives an encoded data stream over the communication link from a server from which content is retrieved. The decoder decodes the received encoded data stream and initiates playback of respective rendition of content on a playback device.
In accordance with adaptive bit rate technology, bit rates of receiving data to the decoder can be adapted (such as every few seconds) depending on available network bandwidth or other resource bottleneck. As an example, the communication link over which a data stream is transmitted to the decoder (at the client) may experience congestion. In such an instance, the bandwidth for conveying data over the network may significantly drop.
In response to detecting a condition such as a decrease in bandwidth availability, a server can be notified by the client to adaptively change a level of quality or bit rate of data transmitted on a respective communication link to the subscriber playing back the transmitted content. In other words, in accordance with conventional adaptive bit rate decoding, the client can request data encoded at a desired level of quality (or bit rate) in response to detecting network congestion or availability of bandwidth.
Transmitting the encoded data from the server at the lower bit rate or lower level of quality during congestion, as opposed to dropping of required packets transmitted to the decoder at the higher bit rate, enables the recipient to continue playback of the content without interruption, albeit at a lower level of playback quality. Adaptive bit rate technology is useful because a subscriber typically would like to playback streaming content without pauses, even though a media player must occasionally playback content at lower levels of quality.